3 under-the-radar Cubs players making noise in spring training

Spring training is well underway across Major League Baseball as teams are gearing up for Opening Day in just under three weeks. The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers begin their season in just eight days when the teams travel to Tokyo, Japan for a two-game series to kick off the 2024 campaign.

Due to the earlier start to the season, roster cuts will need to be made sooner for the two teams. For the Cubs, here are a couple of under-the-radar players that have done everything in their power to force manager Craig Counsell's hand heading into the Tokyo Series.

Vidal Brujan was acquired via trade in the offseason that sent once promising prospect Matt Mervis to the Miami Marlins. Brujan is in a battle for a starting infield spot on Opening Day and he is performing very well so far in Cactus League action.

Brujan entered the week with a strong .344 on-base percentage. Along with his seven hits, the speedster has stolen four bases, leading the team in the category. Just Friday, Brujan said that his goal with the team in 2025 is to not only get on base more but steal more bases as well. Much like Gage Workman, who we will get to in a moment, Brujan is out of minor-league options, meaning the rest of spring training is make or break.

The previously-mentioned Gage Workman has been a machine all spring, leading all MLB players with a .414 average in spring training, also ranking second with a 1.214 OPS entering Monday. Workman also ranks near the top of the leaderboard in runs batted in and slugging percentage.

Workman is tied with Pete Crow-Armstrong for the team lead in home runs and got the word to pack for Tokyo over the weekend. His role with the team may stretch beyond Japan, though, as he could wind up cracking the 26-man roster even after Nico Hoerner returns later this month.

Brad Keller was a non-roster invite to camp, and he has been one of Chicago's better pitchers so far in the spring. His 5.14 ERA is a bit misleading and should not be something that is looked at too much.

Three of Keller's four outings in the spring have been scoreless. In the one outing that he did allow a bit of hard contact and damage, he gave up a few home runs that caused his ERA to inflate to a 6.00 after three outings. Outside of that two-inning stretch, Keller has been outstanding and is making a case to be the long reliever of the Chicago bullpen.

All three of these players have made their cases to be on the Cubs' Opening Day roster and it would be a bit surprising if each of them didn't make an appearance in the Tokyo Series next week.